Welcome to our NZ Country Trails Blog - where we write short stories about the people who list their activities on our website. There we try to capture the energy, creative talent and sustainability that you will find when you meet people living in NZ's countryside, farmers, foresters, orchardists, wine makers, country tavern propietors, local artists and many more. NZ Country Trails has its beginnings in the 1950's when growing up in Christchurch. In those days it was common place for townsfolk to have farming relatives living in the country and I recall the enjoyment of visiting them on a Sunday afternoon outing with my parents. What struck me was how different these people were, their lifestyles, personalities and character from all of us living in the suburbs. They were resilient, self sustainable, hard working and always positive in their outlook. People talked of farmers having a "N0. 8 fencing wire mentality", ie give a farmer a piece of No. 8 fencing wire and he or she would fix anything with it. So, the stories that follow in this blog are about those kinds of people.
Jim Collins
